Journalists at Independent News & Media (IN&M) have opposed the principle of outsourcing editorial operations at the company.
The annual general meeting of the chapel (branch) of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) at the company yesterday passed a motion urging members not to co-operate with training and planning for any re-organisation of editorial operations that is outside the terms of existing agreements.
IN&M is expected to announce a major cost-cutting and redundancy plan to staff at its three main newspaper titles in Dublin next week.
There has been speculation that the company may seek to outsource some of the newspaper production and subediting processes that are currently carried out at its offices on Talbot Street.
It has also been reported that the company could seek to cut between 50 and 100 editorial posts as part of a voluntary redundancy scheme.
Union sources said last night that there was strong opposition among members at the meeting to the principle of outsourcing editorial operations.
They said the NUJ had not yet been made aware of the management plan, but there was speculation that it could involve some work being moved to Northern Ireland or to a separate company which would be established by a number of executives.
A spokesman for IN&M, which publishes the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independentand the Evening Herald, said management would be meeting staff in the near future.
This meeting is expected to take place next week, possibly on Thursday.
The spokesman said it would be inappropriate to comment on the nature of the plan until the company had spoken directly to its staff.
The company employs about 330 personnel in its Dublin operation. About 300 of these work in the editorial area.
NUJ Irish secretary Séamus Dooley said the union opposed the principle of outsourcing. He also expressed concern at the "rumour mill" regarding any redundancy programme.
Mr Dooley said the union believed that, given the massive profitability of IN&M, there was no justification for job losses at this time.
He said the union would consider the management plan when it was presented to it.
